Moonlit Sunrise
by slylady345
Summary: An alternate storyline to Beside Himself: Cooper unexpectedly meets a fresh faced constable, who is apparently Carmelita's brother, and finds himself intrigued.
1. Chapter One

**Moonlit Sunrise**

**Chapter One**

The fox was regretting many things at the present moment, whilst he crouched and hid from the very criminal he was supposed to be apprehending. His most obvious displeasure came from the fact that he could be home right now, but instead he'd mindlessly agreed to take his sister's night shift. Of course, he hadn't expected for Cooper to abruptly appear out of the blue whenever he agreed to such a thing.

"Carmelita?"

Dante flinched as the voice began to near him; he wanted no interaction with this guy whatsoever. There were multiple reasons why, which included: his sister would skin him if he stole her prized catch (not that he probably could, but he had dumb luck sometimes), he had little training when it came to arresting or combat, and honestly he was frightened of being near such an infamous criminal who could probably snap him like a toothpick.

Subtly, at least he hoped it was, the constable shifted backwards to space out the ground between himself and the searching thief. He released a silent sigh of relief when he accomplished the task without a single noise; however, this easing feeling lasted for all of two seconds before two eyes poked around the side of the chimney he'd been using for cover. A startled noise escaped his lips as he ungracefully tumbled backwards, only to have something catch him.

"Didn't mean to frighten you," Cooper's famed smirk beamed down at the bluenette, who still held a stunned expression, "but you looked a lot like a certain officer I know."

Said raccoon thief used the golden hook of his cane to then steady the younger man, who was still frozen in what he assumed was fear or shock. Dante came out of his daze after a few long moments, feeling the criminal's amused gaze centered on him, "I-I'm her brother," He finally managed to stammer out, "not that it's any of your business." The fox quickly added, face heating up from embarrassment.

"Hmm, I don't remember asking if you two were related, you divulged that information all on your own." Sly casually leaned forwards on his weapon, as if engaging in simple surface conversation, "Of course, now that you've told me, I can see the correlation." He boldly reached forwards, brushing a few fingers through the constable's blue locks, "Especially the hair color." Cooper chuckled lowly, retreating somewhat as he saw a scowl spread across Dante's features.

Dante fumbled for his shock pistol and finally withdrew it – backwards – and then turned it around, ears folding back tightly against his navy curls, "Put your hands behind your head, Cooper!" He demanded, trying to retain some sense of dignity.

"Oh, we're playing Simon says?" The raccoon raised both eyebrows, "Well, you didn't say Simon says before that request, so I'm afraid I can't comply." He crossed his arms, then tapped a single digit against his chin, "Simon says, give me your pistol."

Fox, not accustomed to the thief's antics or customary games, offered a confused look before his weapon was abruptly swiped away by a flash of the criminal's cane. The gun clattered against the rooftop, coming to rest at Sly's feet, which were adorned with blue boots. Cooper collected the weapon off of the ground, twirling it around his pointer finger as he grinned smugly at Carmelita's sibling.

"You're not very good at this game." Sly clicked his tongue with a tisk and then gingerly tossed the pistol back to it's shaky owner, who barely caught it, "However," Cooper advanced towards the fox who swallowed nervously, realizing he was already pressed against the chimney's base, "with a little practice I'm sure you'll get better." The thief's muzzle was inches from the bluenette's own, his paws resting on either side of Dante's head.

"I-I…I guess so." Dante muttered softly, feeling dumb for even saying anything, especially when he saw Cooper's face contort into another infuriating smirk.

Sly nodded and retracted from the other, "Be seeing you, constable." He tipped his hat downwards, then lightly sprinted off, leaving a flustered and petrified fox in his wake.

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_**A/N**_**: **I haven't written anything in awhile - well nothing that I've posted anyways - and decided that I should go ahead and post this. I've been contemplating this concept for awhile now, so I'm going to try it out and see how well I can work with it. In a nutshell it's the opposite of _Beside Himself_, as you could probably already tell. I'm not sure of all the things I'll be doing with this fic, but I have some general ideas, such as Carmelita not being a villainess this time around. Also, I'd like to put it out there that whenever I started this site I was very young and childish, even with Beside Himself, and I'm sorry for my antics back then. Hopefully I've matured from then to now and my writing has improved, even slightly. Leave me lots of critique in your reviews so I can get better and advance in my writing skills, thanks so much~

**Dante Fox belongs to me. **


	2. Chapter Two

**Moonlit Sunrise **

**Chapter Two**

Carmelita chewed on her lower lip anxiously, glancing at the clock every few moments as she awaited a call from her younger brother. The female fox regretted letting him take her shift and wished she would've just sucked it up, gone on her nightly patrol, and been done with it. Dante was still a child in her mind's eye, at least when it came to knowing all the ins and outs to being a constable. Of course she didn't hold it against him, but it worried her when he was sent on missions or patrols alone, anything could happen.

Another reason why she was so concerned was the sole fact that she was the only mother figure he'd ever had. Their parents had practically disowned him and never even mentioned having a son to their friends or even other relatives. Carmelita had raised her baby brother up into the man he was today, being the only family member who accepted that he was gay. She'd developed a protective nature when it came to her sibling and fretted over his well being quite frequently – she had even been reluctant to let him move out of their shared apartment.

The Inspector blinked rapidly as she felt her phone vibrate against her side, then instantly snapped it open, holding it close to her ear, "Why didn't you call sooner?" She demanded, eyes narrowed at the wall as a sigh of relief dared to be released.

"I got…caught up," Dante shifted uneasily on the other line, "I met that thief you're always trying to catch and –" He figured he might as well admit what had happened so that it wouldn't come to bite him in the butt later on.

"You met Cooper?" Carmelita's voice raised an octave in seriousness, her posture now tense, "What did he do to you?" Her tone showed she was trying to hold back a growl.

Dante used his free paw to clutch at his hair, a nervous habit of his whenever he felt stressed or under pressure, "N-Nothing, I guess, I mean, not anything too bad." He fumbled for the right words, not really wanting to retell the event in detail.

"Dante…" His sister wasn't having any of that.

He mentally sighed, then retold what he could remember, "Basically, I was hiding from him because I'm not used to being out in the field and my mind blanked on how to arrest a criminal." Dante felt a blush envelope his muzzle, ashamed at his lack of ability to even confront a wrongdoer, "Anyways, he was calling out for you and I figured he'd eventually leave, but he didn't."

"What do you mean he didn't?" Carmelita quirked an eyebrow, leaning back into her counter as she continued to listen.

"Well he snuck up on me," The fox swallowed, "and he apologized, saying that I looked like you." Dante hesitated for a long moment, "Then he messed with my hair and was getting really touchy."

His sibling clenched her teeth, "That's just like him, picking on a new constable, dirty thief." She muttered lowly in distaste.

"I sort of blurted out that I was your brother, kind of secretly hoping he'd leave me alone after I said that." Her brother confessed quietly, "He didn't and so I pulled out my pistol –"

"Please tell me you blasted him in that smug little face of his?" Carmelita crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowed downwards.

There was a pause on Dante's side before he shook his head and grumbled a "no" in response, "I withdrew it backwards, then after I got it straightened out he stole it from me and was babbling on about some game?" He slightly inquired, sort of wondering if his sister knew what that had meant, as he was curious himself.

"Simon says." She stated in deathly cold tone, feeling an uncontrollable wave of anger flood over her at the mention of the blasted game Sly used to tease her with.

Her brother hummed, "Yes, that one." He then trailed off, not really willing to share the last moments of his encounter with the elusive master criminal.

"What else happened?" Carmelita could sense there was more to the story, as she knew her brother's tendencies very well.

"Nothing important, I'm fine, really Carm." Dante begged internally that she would drop the conversation so he could get some deserved rest and forget about tonight.

However, he should have remembered that his sister was stubborn and wouldn't leave their chat unfinished without all the answers.

"Tell me what happened or I'm coming over there."

There was a long groan that erupted from Dante, he dropped his face into his palm, "Fine," He snapped, "he cornered me against the chimney and was basically pressing himself against me, then told me I could get better with practice, okay?" The fox rubbed his paw down his arm, recalling how that minor contact had sent chills up his spine, "Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore, I've had a rough night." He added in a softer way, feeling guilty for being short with his sister.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with him," Carmelita murmured into the phone, her fist clenched, "I'll make Cooper pay for that, don't worry about it Danny." She closed her eyes, "Just get some sleep and forget about that moron."

"Alright, Carm." Dante couldn't help but smile at the protective edge in her voice, "I love you, sis."

"Love you too, see you tomorrow."

There was a click indicating she'd hung up and Dante slumped against his kitchen table, green eyes mindlessly tracing the pattern of the tiles on his floor. He stood up straight, then retreated to his bedroom. Despite what his sister had advised, he found his thoughts consumed by a certain blue clad thief.

* * *

_**A/N**_**: **You know what the best part of the new year is? Cheesecake. I had it for breakfast, then I wrote this. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this and remember to leave lots of critique and all your thoughts! Love you guys and gals~

**I own Dante Fox. **


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